


8 Letters

by Kailee008



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: 8 letters, Based on a song, F/F, Fluff, Long Shot, Love, One Shot, soft, why don't we - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 15:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15910737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kailee008/pseuds/Kailee008
Summary: Fluff about Lou and Debbie based on the song "8 Letters" by Why Don't We.





	8 Letters

**_You know me the best_ **

**_You know my worst, see me hurt, but you don't judge_ **

**_That, right there, is the scariest feeling_ **

**_Opening and closing up again_ **

**_I've been hurt so I don't trust_ **

**_Now here we are, staring at the ceiling_ **

 

Lou sat on the bed and stared out of the window. Debbie could feel the tension and pain in the room. Yet all she wanted to do is be as close to this woman as possible. Lou Miller, the girl who turned her whole world upside down the minute Debbie laid eyes on her. The brunette was not used to being on her toes because of a person. She, after all, was the daughter of a mastermind criminal and the younger sister of Mr. Danny Ocean. She knew how to pickpocket before she knew who to dress herself. She learned how to fake smile before she truly knew what happiness was. Her emotions were something that was kept in check at all times.

 

But with Lou, all her walls fell down and she hated it. She hated feeling vulnerable and like her heart could jump out of her chest at any given moment. Lou had been there through everything and she knew her the best and seen her at her worst. But even after all that, Lou never left. Lou never gave up on her and she couldn’t understand why. It shook Deb to her core. She opened up to Lou from the very beginning. She opened up to her brother Danny. She opened up to Claude. And look where most of that got her. Lou left her, Danny died and Claude put her in jail. Could she trust Lou again? Could she let her back into her life like that after everything that happened? Would Lou even want to come back in, or was she just in this for the money? Her mind spiraled with all these different thoughts. So the two laid on their sides of the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

 

**_I've said those words before but it was a lie_ **

**_And you deserve to hear them a thousand times_ **

 

7 years ago Lou and Debbie had the biggest fight they’ve ever had. Lou wanted more control over their relationship. She loved the game, the heists, the rush, but she also had dreams of settling down with Debbie in California. She brought it up one night and all hell broke loose.

“How could you want out now?! We’re actually moving up in the world!” Debbie shouted angrily.

“Because babe!” Lou shouted back.  She took a deep breath and then said quieter “What kind of life is this? Rigging bingo. We make tops $1000 a night, and while that’s not terrible, I know we can be something better. What happened to your dream of not becoming your father? What happened to wanting to follow Danny’s advice and becoming something other than an Ocean?”

“Don’t you dare bring up my father!” Debbie spitted out with a new type of rage behind those brown eyes. “I am an Ocean and this is what I’m good at. I have nothing else Lou and you know that. If you want out fine. But that means you never loved me” Debbie said and immediately felt a pit of guilt and shame in her stomach.

Lou was speechless. How could Debbie accuse her of not actually loving her. For god’s sake she followed this woman to the end of the earth and back about a thousand times. Lou could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes and a heavy lump form in her throat.

“I… I wow... “ Lou stuttered. Lou closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself. “If you really believe that Ocean then I’m about as good as gone,” Lou said and grabbed her coat.

Debbie wanted to pull her blonde back into her arms and say she was sorry but that wasn’t the type of person she was. She couldn’t take her words back. She had to stick to them and follow through with what she had opened.

“Fine. Goodbye Lou,” Debbie said harshly. Before Lou answered she swallowed back another lump and shook away some tears.

“Goodbye Deb,” Lou whispered and walked out of their apartment.

A few months later Debbie met Claude Becker and the rest was history. She had fallen for this guy unintentionally. Claude was everything Lou wasn’t. It was fresh, it was new and exciting. They were doing more extravagant heists and pulling in more money than Debbie could ever imagine. She became in love with the game, in love with the success and in turn, fell for Claude.

“I love you,” Debbie whispered to Claude as she brushed some of his hair out of his face.

“I love you too Deb,” Claude said and kissed her temple.

The minute she said those words though she felt that they were wrong. They felt almost dirty coming out of her mouth. Her body shot a shiver from her head to her toes and she knew exactly why it was wrong. Those words weren’t meant for him. They were meant for Lou, and even though Lou never heard them come from her mouth, she knew Lou deserved to hear them a thousand times. And this was solidified once Claude set her up and put her away for almost 6 years.

 

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why is it so hard to say?_ **

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why am I in my own way?_ **

**_Why do I pull you close_ **

**_And then ask you for space_ **

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why is it so hard to say?_ **

 

Debbie was the first to break from staring at the ceiling by turning away. She stared at the door and thought to herself _I’ve said them before.. Why when I actually mean it, when I know it deep down in my heart, the words just cease to form or even exist in my vocabulary_. Debbie’s heart wanted to scream those 8 letters. One by one, from the top of the highest building in New York. Her mind on the other hand knew better. Getting those 3 words and 8 letters out was going to be more difficult than pulling teeth. Her brain told her that she would rather give up a source of information than give those 8 letters up. She was in her own way and she hated it.

During the planning of the heist Debbie made it a point to be in Lou’s space at all times. If she couldn’t be in the space she was making eye at the blonde. She pulled Lou into her space and wanted her close. Lou enjoyed every minute of this because she finally felt like Debbie was chasing her instead of Lou chasing Debbie. Despite all the pain and hurt Deb caused, Lou couldn’t help but feel happy that Debbie was finally making the steps to repair what she had caused. A little piece of her believed they might finally have their California after this whole thing was done.

Once the heist was done Debbie began to shut Lou out again and this confused the hell of out Lou. Lou thought she had broken through some of Debbie’s layers. She thought this was going to work out, but now she wasn’t as sure. Debbie would sneak off and sleep in another room or she would sit close but not close enough for Lou to reach her. When they were in public Deb would walk either slightly in front of her or off to the side. This broke Lou sometimes. How could Deb pull her in like that again just to shut her out when everything was perfect. They got away. Claude was in prison. And now they had their own little makeshift family who came over to watch The Bachelor and get drunk. Unknown to Lou, this also broke Debbie. Afterall, she had pulled Lou back in to her own circle just to silently ask for space.

 

**_Isn't it amazing how almost every line on our hands align_ **

**_When your hand's in mine_ **

**_It's like I'm whole again, isn't that a sign_ **

**_I should speak my mind_ **

 

Debbie then rolled over to find Lou turned over facing her. Lou looked down like a kid who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Debbie took Lou’s hand in hers and played with Lou’s long slender fingers. She studied them quietly. Deb ran the tips of her fingers against Lou’s and lined their palms up. She carefully opened them up and amazingly, almost every line in their hands aligned. Deb took Lou’s hand in hers and she felt the most calm she had felt in 6 years. She felt whole again, like the real Deborah Ocean was back and alive. She knew this was a sign and knew the only way to keep this feeling was to speak her mind.

 

**_I've said those words before but it was a lie_ **

**_And you deserve to hear them a thousand times_ **

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why is it so hard to say?_ **

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why am I in my own way?_ **

 

“I love you,” Debbie whispered barely loud enough for Lou to hear. This surprised Lou. This whole interaction. She hadn’t really felt Debbie’s touch in almost 2 weeks and now this stoic woman was beaming with emotion.

“I…” Lou began to say before she was cut off with Debbie’s finger pressed against her lip.

“Please don’t say it unless you mean it. I am only telling you because I feel it. I’ve felt it since the day I met you. And the first time I said those words, I said them to the wrong person in a lie. But you..” Debbie paused and squeezed Lou’s hand.

“You deserve to hear them a thousand times because it’s true. I love you Lou Miller. You’re the only one who’s had my heart. And I kept thinking. If all it is is eight letters, why is it so hard to say? And I realized I was in my own way. My heart said one thing and my mind protected me from the one thing that could break me in a heartbeat. You.” Debbie said with so much sincerity.  

Lou was speechless. Her mind was absolutely blank, and she assumed whenever she heard Debbie say those words she would have to be the one that said them first. Lou was scrambling to find words or any sort of thought but they all disappeared.

 

**_When I close my eyes_ **

**_It's you there in my mind_ **

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why is it so hard to say?_ **

**_If all it is is eight letters_ **

**_Why am I in my own way?_ **

 

Debbie closed her eyes and began to speak again, “Lou, when I close my eyes. It’s you there in my mind. I see us, I see our past, and our present. But most importantly I see our future. I see you and me in California. I see your club, I see myself on a beach house. I see you in a suit and me in a dress. I see 3 small bundles of joy. I see growing old with you. And, I understand if you don’t see that anymore. I screwed up. I hurt you. I lost you. For what, a man who could never have even half of me. I’m sorry it took me so long for me to say these 8 letters. I’m sorry I found them hard to say, and most importantly I’m sorry I stood in my own way and denied us being happy. Denied you being happy”.

Lou’s eyes filled with tears and she pulled the brunette as close as their bodies would allow them to be. She clinged to Deb with all her strength and kissed all over her face. She had been dying to hear these words, those 8 letters. But she never expected she’d hear all of this too. California, a club, a wedding, and jesus, children? Never in a million years did she think any of those subjects really crossed Debbie’s mind. She was proven wrong in the most perfect way.

Once Lou collected herself and looked into Deb’s milky brown eyes and said, “oh baby, I love you too. And I forgive you. I’ve forgave you the day I walked out. And I’ve loved you since the very beginning”

Debbie pressed her lips against Lou’s and Lou kissed back with so much love and passion. The two couldn’t move fast enough, their tongues intertwining, their hands in each other’s hair and their bodies linked together. That night was the beginning of the rest of their life. That night, 8 letters began to become easy to say.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed. It was a long one shot, but it was fluffy and cute. Thanks again for reading! Have a good night/day whenever you're reading this!


End file.
